Ego-resiliency reloaded: a three-component model of general resiliency

Dávid Farkas, Gábor Orosz, Dávid Farkas, Gábor Orosz

Abstract

Ego-resiliency (ER) is a capacity that enables individuals to adapt to constantly changing environmental demands. The goal of our research was to identify components of Ego-resiliency, and to test the reliability and the structural and convergent validity of the refined version of the ER11 Ego-resiliency scale. In Study 1 we used a factor analytical approach to assess structural validity and to identify factors of Ego-resiliency. Comparing alternative factor-structures, a hierarchical model was chosen including three factors: Active Engagement with the World (AEW), Repertoire of Problem Solving Strategies (RPSS), and Integrated Performance under Stress (IPS). In Study 2, the convergent and divergent validity of the ER11 scale and its factors and their relationship with resilience were tested. The results suggested that resiliency is a double-faced construct, with one function to keep the personality system stable and intact, and the other function to adjust the personality system in an adaptive way to the dynamically changing environment. The stability function is represented by the RPSS and IPS components of ER. Their relationship pattern is similar to other constructs of resilience, e.g. the Revised Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (R-CD-RISC). The flexibility function is represented by the unit of RPSS and AEW components. In Study 3 we tested ER11 on a Hungarian online representative sample and integrated the results in a model of general resiliency. This framework allows us to grasp both the stability-focused and the plasticity-focused nature of resiliency.

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1. The fit indices of the…
Fig 1. The fit indices of the ESEM models of ER.
The X-axis is always the number of factors, while the Y-axis is a fit index. Upper left corner: Chi-square / degrees of freedom. Upper right corner: Root mean square error of approximation. Lower left corner: Comparative Fit Index. Lower right corner: Tucker-Lewis Index. Different types of lines mark the number of items included in the analysis (first item 1 was excluded, then item 10, then item 9). Factors did not converge after the exclusion of the three ill-fitting items above four solutions. The ‘elbow’ is visible at three factors in all cases.
Fig 2. The CFA models of Ego-resiliency.
Fig 2. The CFA models of Ego-resiliency.
Left side shows the original ER89 structure. Model 1: CFI = .849, RMSEA = .094, Model 7: CFI = .841, RMSEA = .097, Model 9: CFI = .846, RMSEA = .091. Right side shows the hierarchical ER11 structure. Model 4: CFI = .970, RMSEA = .055, Model 8: CFI = .968, RMSEA = .058, Model 10: CFI = .965, RMSEA = .057. One-headed arrows between the latent and observed variables show the standardized regression weights. The first value belongs to the Training Sample, after the slash the second value refers to the Test Sample. After the final slash the values of Test Sample 2 are noted.

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